Improvement in bee-hives



Z. L. JACDBS Bee Hive.

No. 63,641. Patented April 2; I867.

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ZALMON L. JA GOES, OF HEBRO'N, CONNECTICUT.

Letters Patent .No. 63,641, dated April 9, 1867.

IMPROVEMENT IN BEE-*HIVES;

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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY concnnn:

Be it known that LZALMON L. JACOBS, of Hebron, in the county or Tolland,in the-State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Beedlives; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description of the construction and use of the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of thisspecification, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view.

Figure 2, a back view with the door removed to show the interiorarrangements.

Figure 3, a transverse section.

Figure 4, a longitudinal section; and

Figure 5, a detached and enlarged view of one of the hooks by which theparts of the bee-box are held together. 7

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in all the figures.

The nature of my invention consists in a peculiar combination andarrangementot appendages to a bee-hive, whereby the bees are protectedfrom the wind, and various operations in bee management are facilitated,particularly those of inspecting andmanipulating the contents of thehive, feeding the bees, and rcgulating the number of adherents toartificial swarms.

To enable others skilled in the art to which my invention appcrtains tomake and use the same, I will describe its construction and use.

The rectangular case A serves to support and shelter theother parts ofmy device. Its back side Bis made movable, forming a door, and affordingaccess to the interior. A narrow board, C, which may be fixed, and awide movable board, D, are laid on the cleats E, so as to form a raisedplatform for supporting the bee-box or hive proper, F; the board G beingplaced against the front wall of the case, and the board D contiguous toboard 0. The principal object of making the aforesaid platform of twoboards is to facilitate the removal of impurities from the hive. Theback side of the bee-box being slightly raised, the board D upon whichmost of the impurities oi the hive fall is entirely relieved of theweight of said bee-box, and may be readily withdrawn and cleansed. Thespace below the aforesaid platform is divided by the most central of thecleats E into two nearly equal apartments or chambers G. To aifordcommunication between said chambers and the open air, a horizontal slotor mortise, H, is made from each of said chambers through the front wallof the ease, and a smaller aperture, I, but sufiiciently large for theingress and egress passage for a colony of bees, is made about midwaybetween said slots, forming asecond entrance to one of the aforesaidchambers G. A passage, J, is also made from each of said chambers,inclining upward towards the front, through board O,'to affordcommunication between said chambers and the bee-box F. The aggregatewidth of the boards 0 and D is somewhat less than the width of the case,so that wind entering the chambers G will be free to pass out at theirback sides and into the space around and above the bee-box F, instead ofentering said bcebox as it would otherwise be likely to do. Wire-clothscreens K, permitting the wind but not the bees to pass, may be used, ifdesired, to prevent the bees from entering the space back of chambers G.The bee-box Fbefore mentioned consists of a suitable number ofclose-fitting comb-frames L, two side boards M, and a dividing board, N,all held together, on each side, by two series of peculiarly formed wirehooks O. Said hooks are made of a length to accord with the thickness ofthe frames and boards to which they are applied, and have shanks P, bentat right angles with their main parts, which enter suitable holes madefor the purpose in the said frames and boards, which holes are made insuch positions that when the parts are properly arranged the first hookof a series'on the right hand attaches directly to the shank of thesecond hook, that to the shank of the third, and so on through a series.Staples or pins may be used to terminate each series if preferred. Thatthe said hooks may close the joints accurately, notwithstanding slightincidental variations in their construction, and in that of the parts towhich they are attached, and that they may not be likely to unhook byaccident or when the beeboX is inverted, each is madewith a coil orspring, Q, and its beak is formed as shown at R, fig. 5, so that itclings with some force to the object to which it eonnects. For feedingbees an apparatus is provided consisting of the reversible box S, thespring T, and the receptacle U. The said box S has one of its sides madeof sheetingor similar fabric V, and has an aperture, W, with a circularlip, X, which fits loosely within anorifice made for the purpose in theside of the bee-box. The spring T is attached to the bee-box F, andembraces and supports the box S, and has a cylindrical end, Y, whichfits loosely-within a hole in the box S, opposite to the centre of theorifice W, so that the box S. may be reversed. i To use this apparatus,the box S is turned with its cloth side, V, down, the receptacle U,containing the food is placed under said box S, and against its clothside, and the box and receptacle held together by the hand are quicklyinverted, in which position they are sustained by the spring Ti The foodis prevented from flowing out by the cloth V and the pressure of theatmosphere, but the bees having access to the under side of the cloth,through the orifice W, are abl o m h the food, through the intersticesof the cloth. It will be seen at once that no bees are crushed ordrowned in the operation, and none allowed to escape to annoy theoperator. A still greater advantage, not at first so obvious, resultsfrom this arrangement. The food boin as it were scaled up, little or noscent escapes to attract robber bees, as is apt to be the case whenother modes of feeding are resorted to. On the front of case A, in linewith the slots II, is made a deve-tail groove, Z, into whichfitlooselythe oblong slides a, the uses of which will be presently explained. Fouror five inches above said slides a, the rhomboidal elcat b is secured tothe ease, with its upper side inclining upward from the case so as toforms. ledge suitable for supporting the porch-like appendages c, whichare simple frames, square or triangular in form, about a foot across,and three or four inches deep, each with aboard, (Z, filling about halfof the enclosed area, and with dove-tail notches c at suitable points,adapting them to hang securely upon said cleat b, and'admitting of theireasy adjustment, either side out, either edge down, and upon any desiredpart of said olcat. Both the slides a and the appendages c are designedmainly to assist the apiarlau to regulate the number of adherents toartificial swarms; though the first are useful as means of closing andvaryingthe size of the entrances, and thelast serve as alighting andclustering places for the bees. The manner in which they are employed inregulating artificial swarms is as follows: The colony from which theswarm is to he made placed with the box containing it within the case A,with the dividing board N removed, and allowed to go in and out onlythrough the aperture I, where an appendage, c, is hung. At the propertime the division of bees is made by inserting the dividing beard Nbetween the ranges of combs, or in any other of the ways known toapiarianmand the bec-box is so arranged upon the platform, and theslides a are so disposed, that one of the colonies resulting from thedivision communicates with the open air through an opening,f, at theright of the old entrance, and the other colony through a similaropening at the left of said old entrance, (by which I mean the entranceused by the parent colony before the diyision was made.) An appendage cis then hung at each of the entrances used and the flight of the beesobserved. If they join the different colonies in the proper proportionsthe work is done; but if not, such a change of the. front arrangementsof the case is made as will contribute to the desired result. In makingthis change the operator is governed by the following fact: When beesreturning from the fields do not gain admittance at the familiarentrance they seek another or others, and in general, other things beingequal, the nearer an entrance is found, the more plainly it is seen, andthe more it resembles the familiar one in the position and appearance ofits surroundings, the more readily will the bees enter it, and vicecurse. Now, as the slides a enable the operator to make the openings fat points more or less remote from the old entrance I, and theappendages 0 enable him to provide surroundings resembling in a greateror less degree, in position and appearance, those of the old entrance,and also to hide more or less or to expose to plain view the entrancesat which they are hung, it is obvious that the colonies may be madenearly equal or very unequal in size. In general there is a variety ofcxpedients to which to resort to produce a given result. For example,the colony receiving too many adherents may have the number reducedeither by having its entrnncefremovcd, so as to compel the bees to gofurther from the old entrance to gain admittance; by having theappendage c at its entrance moved further from said old entrance, orotherwise changed so as to look more unlike what the bees have beenaccustomed to, or by having said appendage arranged so that its faceboard d will hide more or loss the entrance at which it is hung; orif.nonc of these changes be, made, but changes of an opposite tendencyare made relative to the entrance receiving too few bees, a similarresult may be expected. When, for any reason, the case requires it, theslides a and the appendages 0 may all be arranged to co-operate inproducing the e-ii'ect required.

Thus I have described what I conceive to be the best construction of mydevice, and the best mode ofusing it; but these may be varied, and I donot wish to confine myself further than is necessary to produce the sameresults upon the same principle. I am aware that hives are in use havingniches or porches in their fronts serv ing as shelters and clusteringplaces for the bees, and that slides and analogous devices are used toclose or vary the size of the entrances to hives; these devices Idisclaim, but- I claim as new and of my invention, and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. The narrow board C, in combination with the boardD, substantially as and for the purpose specified. 2. I claimconstructing and arranging the hooks 0 so as to connect with each otherdirectly, or without intermediate staples or pins, substantially as andfor the purpose described.

3. I claim, in combination with the frames L, the employment of theextensible hooks 0, when the same are made extensible by means of coilsQ or their equivalents,- substantially as and for the purposesdescribed.

4. I claim the combination and arrangement of the reversible box S,-thecloth V, and thc'receptucle U, substantially as described and for thepurpose'of feeding bee 5. I claim the adjustable or changeableappendages c, in combination with the case A or its (3(1Lll\llL1lli,Sl)- stantially as and for the purpose described.

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Witnesses 1 Tnuornv P. BISSELL, LYDIA BIssELL.

